Once upon a time there was a greek philosopher who, by persistently asking his leaders questions, was nicknamed the "Gnat of Athens". He did not consider it a perjorative. By his example, all of us should from time to time challenge our core beliefs - asking ourselves what moves us to do what we do. If our fundamental principles include "do no harm" and "protect the weak", are our institutions and our own behavior proof to what we believe?

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Ten Days of Testing

Starting tomorrow, I will undertake ten days of User Acceptance Testing of Alfresco RM 2.0, designed to manage an organization's electronic records. Products like these pave the way for a green, paperless office. I must know if it lives up to its claims before I actively promote it, and by dedicating these ten days I will build a list of recommendations and tips that will help business users implement with a minimum of fuss.

Implementation Enterprise Content Managment (ECM)/Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) can often exceed the cost of the product itself, as successful implementation depends on the business having a clear understanding of what it does and how work flows. There are frameworks to build, decisions on accessibility and security, and intelligent roll-out with plenty of hands-on training. You just can't take away a man's files without giving him a sensible replacement.

So let's reduce the fuss and make these products easy to implement.

I've picked ten critical features to test that are identified on both the DoD 5015.02-STD and MoReq standards. You can request a copy of my comparison matrix by popping me an e-mail.

With each test I will declare a pass or fail, recommendations for the developers, RM community and business user, and lessons learned along the way. RIM professionals must remember that the end result must be a support to the business, rather than a barrier. Let's not allow our native passion for order blind us to the gutsy reality of daily use. Even if imperfect, it must be easy to use.